Heavy Duty Trucking, July 2019

HDT JULY 2019 14 WWW TRUCKINGINFO COM Hotline SIGN UP FOR YOUR DAILY NEWS AT WWW TRUCKINGINFO COM HEADLINENEWS TRUCKINGS MOST RESPECTED BUSINESS REPORT While sign on bonuses remain a big part of fleets recruiting efforts more recruiters are considering guaranteed pay and transition bonuses Survey Fleets changing pay packages in pursuit of drivers Fleets offered fewer driver wage increases in the first quarter of 2019 compared to last year but the raises that did occur were substantial according to the Quarterly National Survey of Driver Wages from the National Transportation Institute As the trucking industry boomed in the past few years many fleets offered pay increases sometimes multiple increases in the same year Across the industry mileage pay rates increased and hit uncharted levels according to NTI with rates as high as 65 cents per mile for solo drivers Despite higher wages across the board fleets have still found it difficult to find and retain qualified drivers Our subscribers tell us that while freight has dropped and driver churn turnover has increased the need to monitor driver pay attributes that produce desired outcomes remains especially high said Leah Shaver NTI chief operating officer Some of these outcomes include referrals safe productive driving and fair compensation for downtime Were in a market with near full employment and driver expectations are raised after a record year in 2018 In these conditions the driver situation changes rapidly The quarterly survey also found that while sign on bonuses remain an important recruiting tool for fleets some fleets were beginning to take the viewpoint that guaranteed pay and transition bonuses were a better strategy Our observation is that in Q1 the size of signing bonuses continues to decrease although the number of carriers offering bonuses continues to remain fairly high said Gordon Klemp NTI founder and CEO At the same time carriers that are utilizing some form of guaranteed pay are seeing a positive impact on turnover and hiring The National Survey of Driver Wages is a survey of recruiting retention and compensation executives at dry van temperature controlled flatbed and tanker fleets nationwide SOURCE NTI Frank Sonzala President and CEO CIMC Intermodal Equipment Q Why were those old intermodal chassis so bad and why did it change AThey had bias tires split rims no ABS incandescent lights the cheapest things The thinking was they only go 9 miles across town and come back empty so theres no need for them to be safe or anything else The whole model changed with the advent of the expansion of the Walmarts and Targets where a container comes in with a full 40 foot container of goods going to one distribution center 600 miles inland They may do a little bit of that on a train but theyve got to get to the train and theyll do the last 200 250 miles or more by truck to deliver it to a distribution center In the early to mid 80s when intermodal started to surface as a big time part of trucking bias belt tires were rated to about 40 mph going down the highway with up to 40000 pounds Around 2001 or 2002 when CIMC said Were not putting bias tires on customers said We cant afford radial We said We cant afford to be going 70 mph down the highway on tires that arent rated for that speed and weight Q What will the intermodal chassis of the future look like AWere already investigating regenerative braking power on axles for chassis Read the full interview at www truckinginfo com sonzala

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